By Gerrye Wong, CHCP Co-Founder and Trustee

The CHINESE HISTORICAL AND CULTURAL PROJECT had a grand celebration honoring the new 2024 Board of Directors and Advisory Board installed at the China Stix Restaurant. Around 200 members and guests renewed their support of CHCP that evening. A fine banquet meal was served to all, with dinner being complimentary for membership renewals and new enrollees that evening. 

Guest Speaker of the evening was retired ABC Reporter David Louie who spoke of his journey from age 5 to his retirement with 50 years in the television industry. He recalled the lack of Asian reporters in media as far back as the 1970s, and the difficulties so many of the Asian industry pioneers faced to get recognized and on the air.  Louie recalled that of his many stories, the one interview that stands out in his mind was being the first to interview Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta following the 9/11 airplane attacks and covering Mineta’s public declaration of the grounding of all planes on that fateful day. He recalled being in the center of so many Bay Area happenings, such as the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and having the experience of being one of the first newsmen to enter China after President Richard Nixon’s China visit which opened that country to the United States and the outside world.

Members of the media acknowledged that evening for their media coverage and active support of CHCP were: ABC reporter Dion Lim, NBC reporter Robert Handa, and Bay Area News SJ Mercury columnist Sal Pizarro.

KTSF reporter Christina Chow, Ding Ding TV CEO Diana Ding, and former US Congressman Mike Honda were also in the audience to show support of all the works CHCP has done for over 35 years in San Jose.

CHCP’s new dragon had its inaugural appearance led with much fanfare by Board member Mike Mak. Following Chinese tradition, the body and especially the eye of the dragon were dotted in red to bring good fortune, health and blessings to CHCP supporting members in 2024 Year of the Dragon. The eye dotting ceremony was followed by 50 raffle prizes awarded to many happy members by Board member Peter Young and Advisory Board member Joshua Zhang.

It took a team of a complete board and dedicated SDCAP student volunteers to produce a wonderful program telling of our own history and encouraging the audience to support the Preservation of the Summit Tunnels Site which was constructed by Chinese railroad workers and is an important part of California's history.

It was a grand start to a good year for CHCP in continued sharing of Chinese American history and culture to its Santa Clara Valley citizens. The goal of the group is to open their wonderful Chinese American Historical Museum every Saturday of the year so more people can view the historic 1800s altar used by Chinese immigrants as their temple of worship, Chinese school and hostel. The CHCP museum is located in History Park San Jose and welcomes all to come and learn about the proud history of our forefathers in Santa Clara Valley.

View a short video of the Membership Dinner, courtesy of Ding Ding TV: